Find Me A Series Name!

On By Rhys FordIn Free Stuff, Good News72 Comments

Find Me A Series Name — CONTEST IS CLOSED! I am now debating the merits of the names! HWAITING!

Okay… I’ve been putting this off because my brain’s just been really lean. Like hella lean…

I have to come up with a name for a series. Usually it’s pretty easy. Something hits. This time… not so much. I don’t want to do something corny like The Four Horsemen. But it has to be a bit catchy.

Oh, and this is dark urban fantasy… from DSP Publications.

The focus in this book is Kismet, the human and his interactions with The Four. Primarily. Yes.

The winner will be determined by the name that tickles my fancy. I won’t make a decision until 9:30 tomorrow. I kinda have to make a decision because I’m being looked at askance by the powers that be.

What will you win? Besides my eternal gratitude, you can certainly beta The Four BUT you can also be a character in the next book in my queue, Sloe Ride.

Time starts now…. *grins* Leave your suggestion below in the comments and make sure I can get a hold of you. *grins*

Here is the blurb…. for THE FOUR

milesapm1Kismet Andreas lives in fear of the shadows.

For the young tattoo artist, the shadows hold more than darkness. He is certain of his insanity because the dark holds creatures and crawling things only he can see—monsters who hunt out the weak to eat their minds and souls, leaving behind only empty husks and despair.

And if there’s one thing Kismet fears more than being hunted—it’s the madness left in its wake.

The shadowy Veil is Mal’s home. As Pestilence, he is the youngest—and most inexperienced—of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, immortal manifestations resurrected to serve—and cull—mankind. Invisible to all but the dead and insane, the Four exist between the Veil and the mortal world, bound to their nearly eternal fate. Feared by other immortals, the Horsemen live in near solitude but Mal longs to know more than Death, War and Famine.

Mal longs to be… more human. To interact with someone other than lunatics or the deceased.

When Kismet rescues Mal from a shadowy attack, Pestilence is suddenly thrust into a vicious war—where mankind is the prize, and the only one who has faith in Mal is the human the other Horsemen believe is destined to die.

 

On By Rhys FordIn Good News4 Comments

11948483Restless Spirits by Jordan L. Hawk

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have never hidden my love for Jordan L. Hawk’s writing. To do so would be like trying to keep the sun concealed under an umbrella. Not only would it be a neat trick, the umbrella would go up in flames. Just as it would trying to hide the sheer magnificence of Hawk’s writing.

Restless Spirits launches Hawk’s new series, Spirits and damn, what a great launch it is. Vincent and Henry are at odds, both philosophically, Henry is a scientist where Vincent is a spiritualist, and socially as Vincent is a Native American man during a time when being darker than a flushed beige relegated a person to the “lesser” column. However, Henry isn’t one to let social constructs guide his behaviour, not where race is concerned.

Homosexuality, during the heyday of an alternative universe’s Industrial Revolution , is a different matter altogether.

The story is a tightly knit, nearly single-room adventure reminiscent of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Caught in a paranormal mystery complete with murderous ghosts and stolen bits of forbidden love, Hawk crafts a damned good tale of scientific theory, spiritualism and simmering sexuality. This is definitely an origin story of a couple of men who first are at odds and then only find their footing when working together.

I’m looking so forward to seeing where we’re taken in the rest of this series. Fantastic writing, great characters and burgeoning tension as only Jordan L. Hawk can deliver.

Order Restless Spirits on Amazon and other online book stores.

Black Dog Blues up for Pre-Order on DSPP

On By Rhys FordIn Good News, Heh13 Comments

o-black-dog-bluesWOOOOOOT! Look what’s on Pre-order! Black Dog Blues!

http://www.dsppublications.com/books/black-dog-blues-by-rhys-ford-52-b

Ever since being part of the pot in a high-stakes poker game, elfin outcast Kai Gracen figures he used up his good karma when Dempsey, a human Stalker, won the hand and took him in. Following the violent merge of Earth and Underhill, the human and elfin races are left with a messy, monster-ridden world, and Stalkers are the only cavalry willing to ride to someone’s rescue when something shadowy appears.

It’s a hard life but one Kai likes—filled with bounty, a few friends, and most importantly, no other elfin around to remind him of his past. And killing monsters is easy. Especially since he’s one himself.

But when a sidhe lord named Ryder arrives in San Diego, Kai is conscripted to do a job for Ryder’s fledgling Dawn Court. It’s supposed to be a simple run up the coast during dragon-mating season to retrieve a pregnant human woman seeking sanctuary. Easy, quick, and best of all, profitable. But Kai ends up in the middle of a deadly bloodline feud he has no hope of escaping.

No one ever got rich being a Stalker. But then few of them got old either and it doesn’t look like Kai will be the exception.

Sighs… Sooooooon

On By Rhys FordIn Heh14 Comments

I am at the end of a new book, Murder and Mayhem. New series. New characters. New anxieties. No, wait… same anxieties.

It’s always difficult when trying to cobble together personalities and a world, even if it is set in a modern Los Angeles. Each book has its own voice and I might start off thinking “Oh, it’s going to be funny” and then it all goes sideways. This time, it was a hell of a lot less funny and more… grit? Raw-boned? It’s hard to really quantify at this point because later today, I’m going to go back into the full document and read what I’ve done.

When I write, I rarely go back and read or edit while I’m writing. Sometimes something sticks with me and it’s like an itch I can’t get rid of. That’s usually a sign that I’ve left something out. That’s a retrofit and those I do midstream. I’ll go back and structure it back up or it’ll bug the shit out of me and I can’t go forward.

Writers talk about doing it by the seat of their pants or plotting everything out. I kind of write by a loose plot but with my gut instincts. I’ve found it best not to fight the voice as it comes out. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it’s an odd construct but it really is what comes out. The whole It Is What It Is fits here.

10846216_406637866156064_1843120710947189526_nI also know when I’ve done too much in one day. I get a visitor. Literally, she comes and sits on me. Very demanding cat. This was last night. I guess I was done. Or so she told me.